Fish problems A few weeks ago I purchased a Kole
Tang for my 75g tank. Before I introduced the fish into my main tank I
did a freshwater dip. I have Lionfish, Basslet Fish and a Foxface
Rabbitfish already in the main tank. The store owner told assured me
that the Tang was healthy and told me to do a freshwater dip prior to
introducing the tang into the main tang to ease my peace of mind.
<Freshwater dips are usually done to combat parasites if you
don't have a quarantine system.> I got home dipped the fish and
put him into the main tank. The first few days the tang was
fine. He was a little tattered because the Basslet fish got
very aggressive but, after a few days he was fine. The Tang
and the Foxface Fish grazed on algae in the tank. I couldn't get
either one of them to eat the algae tablets. <Really not all that
surprising and if he had an adequate supply of algae he wouldn't
have needed them.> Nevertheless the Kole Tang died in about a week.
I thought it was because he wouldn't eat or maybe he got stung by
the Lionfish. <Okay why would you think he got stung by the
lionfish? Did you see any aggression in the direction? Did you see any
marks on the tang?> I noticed that the Lionfish started hanging
around the top of the tank near the filters. He has never done that
before. I've had the Lionfish and Basslet fish for almost two years
and never had any problems. A few days ago I decided to try my luck
with the Kole Tang again so I purchased another one. He was
one the healthiest fish I had ever seen in a Pet store and quite
large. I also bought fish supplies because I noticed that my
Lionfish was hanging out near the top so I figured I needed to do a
major water change. <Always a good idea when you are having any kind
of problems. I'm very much afraid though that you introduced a
parasite into the tank.> I got home with the new fish still in the
bag and began working on the water change. I took all of the fish
included the Tang in the bag and placed them my QT tank so I could
clean the gravel while changing the water. <Okay I have to ask, if
you have a quarantine tank why not quarantine the Kole tang before you
put him in the first time. I know the fish store said he was fine but
you just never know what they have gone through while they are
there.> While I was doing it some idiot hit a fire hydrant in my
neighborhood and it knocked out the water pressure and eventually the
water was turned completely off. <Ouch major pain.> I was in the
middle of the water change when the water was shut off. I
didn't know how long the water would be off and I couldn't add
the fish back into the main tank because it was almost completely
empty. <Big water change. Usually I recommend doing 25% water
changes at least once a month.> So I had no other choice but to keep
all the fish in the QT tank and take new Tang out of the bag and set
him free in the QT tank too. <Good place for him to be.> Once the
water came back on several hours later, I continued with the water
change and put all of the fish into the main tank. I figured
the damage was already done and it couldn't get any
worse. The tang looked and acted very healthy. <He very
well could have been but anything like that would have stressed him.
Then to move him from one place to another and have three changes would
really stress him. Do you always move all the fish out when you do
water changes? Because if you start this partial water change system
you shouldn't have to move your fish totally out of the tank.>
Today I came home from work and all of the fish were fine. I went
upstairs to take a nap and came back downstairs and noticed that my
Kole Tang was laying on his side and he was covered with white spots.
<Definitely a parasite, probably ich.> I immediately thought
about Ick but wasn't sure so I removed him from the main tank.
<Good choice.> I put him in the QT tank and he fluffed up for a
little while and moved around. <Can I ask what your quarantine tank
consists of? What type of filtration etc?> I got online
and started reading about fish parasites and other things from your
website. <You are definitely on the right track and obviously care
for your fish.> I read that I should try to do a freshwater dip.
<Freshwater dips will kill the ich cysts on the fish and give him
some relief, the problem is that before you see the ich they have often
damaged the gills of the fish.> I took the tang out and put him in
the freshwater dip for about five minutes. At first the fish laid there
breathing then he would jump and swim around the bag and then fall back
on his side. <That is typical dip behavior.> I took him out of
the bag and noticed that the white patches on him had faded away along
with his color. <Once again that's normal. Sometimes you'll
even see little marks on the side of the fish that look like divots
where the ich was. I noticed that especially in the dark tangs like a
purple tang.> When I put him back in the QT he went immediately to
the bottom and laid there. <Typical once again. When you did your
freshwater did you adjust the temperature to the same as his tank and
the ph as well? That often is something people are not aware of and
something that greatly assists in a freshwater dip.> He
hasn't moved. <Poor guy, I know you feel for him.> I checked
the other fish in the main tank and noticed that all of the fish in the
tank have white spots on them. <NOT GOOD> My Lionfish color looks
faded and it looks as though his eyes are starting to cloud up. I tried
to feed him because I knew he was hungry and he didn't eat. I
turned the air on the powerhead and he immediately went up to the
stream of air bubbles and floated there with his mouth open like he was
getting a massage. LOL. <Actually a great thing to do
because it put additional oxygen in the tank and aids in his
breathing. If you don't have any corals or invertebrates
in your tank you should consider trying hyposalinity on your fish
immediately. This is taking the salinity down to a more therapeutic
level for treatment of parasites. There is quite a bit on the site
about it.> I was wondering is it possible that all of my fish are
sick and I need to medicate them with copper? If so can I
medicate them all in the main tank or do I need to put them in QT tank
which is only a ten gallons. <You can treat the main tank with
copper but once it is in there it is ALWAYS in
there.> Also, I do have two pieces of live rock in the
tank with a couple of inhabitants on them will they be able to handle
the copper? <No the copper will definitely kill them. You could move
the live rock to the quarantine tank while you treat the main tank with
hypo salinity and move it back when you bring the salinity back up.>
My Kole Tang is in the QT laying on his side but
breathing. He looks a little better after the freshwater dip
his color returned a little but he isn't doing much of anything
other than breathing. <That's okay, he's fighting
off the effects of the parasite and the dip.> Should I put him back
in the main tank and medicate him in the main tank as well or keep him
in the QT and medicate him there if he survives. Sorry for
the long message I wanted to explain the situation as to get the best
possible solution. <You message is great. I hope I was able to help
and please follow up with me. My name is MacL and I'll be looking
for you.> Parasitic, environmental... two, two, two diseased
condition influences working at once! Hello Bob, <Jeremy> My
name is Jeremy Gosnell, and I have been an aquarium hobbyist for many
years. I have kept until now only freshwater fish, mainly African
cichlids and discus. Just recently I set up a 30 gallon Saltwater
Aquarium I cycled the tank for about 2 weeks <Will likely need more
time...> and used Oceanic Sea Salt as the salt mix, crushed coral as
a substrate, and currently have about 25 pd.s of live rock in the tank.
For filtration I opted for the Aqua Clear 500, undergravel with dual
Aqua Clear 301 power heads. For lighting I installed a 65 watt Coral
Life compact fluorescent. <Okay> It seems like every new fish
that I place in this tank gets some type of parasite. <Mmm, likely
to a large degree environmentally induced... your system is small,
probably not completely cycled> It begins looking like typical
marine ich so I treat them for ich, then they get covered in ich like
spots but these are much much smaller than traditional ich. They are
white in color and literally coat the entire fish. As if someone had
sprinkled a very fine sugar or salt all over the fish. This disease has
taken many of my fish including 2 Sebae Clownfish, A pacific blue tang
<This tank is too small for this species> and more. The only fish
I have that remains healthy and free of this odd condition is my
Juvenile Yellow tang. He had a short bout with ich that cleared
quickly. <It's still there... in your system> I have used a
variety of treatments trying to eradicate this. Malachite Green,
PimaFix, MelaFix, Clout, have all been unsuccessful in clearing the
condition. I am now trying a product called KickIch - a 14 day
treatment that may hopefully help. I know you are the experts expert
and wondered what your opinion was on this. I do have invertebrates in
the tank several crabs and shrimp and some turbo grazer snails. The
parameters are as follows: Temperature - 78 degrees F Ph: 8.3 Nitrite:
0.0 Ammonia - 0.0 I used both Stability by Seachem and Bio Spira by
Marineland Labs to cycle this tank. Would that have any effect, its
been running for about 1.5 months. Any help would be great Jeremy J.
Gosnell <Time to take a few steps backward... I take it you have
been trying to cure this parasitic problem in your main tank...
contraindicated... you are disrupting the system, hurting your
livestock's capacity to ward off further infestation by impugning
their environment. There is not a whole lot to study to understand the
gist of what you're up to here... Please begin by reading:
http://wetwebmedia.com/mardisease.htm
and on to the Related Articles and FAQs (linked, in blue, at top)...
especially the FAQs files on infested tanks. Stop poisoning your main
system, and instead invest in a separate treatment tank... Study now
and save your fishes, money, good nature. Bob Fenner> External
Parasite Good day,<Hello, MikeB here.> I recently purchased a
Percula Clown fish and he is doing well. The next morning I
observed something attached to his rear tail fin. It was
transparent like having 2 small black eyes and many little legs
underneath. It was almost like a pill bug but more skinny in
width and see through (you can see its insides). It even had
a tail of some sort and closely resembles a small crustacean or
something. What is this? I immediately removed the clown fish and
placed him in a freshwater dip for about 3 minutes. This
thing obviously didn't like the fresh water and soon fell off
swimming in circles on the bottom and eventually dying. Did this thing
come from the live rock in the tank (I have 27 pounds in a 55 gallon
setup). It obviously came from somewhere because it was not
attached to the clown when I purchased him at the store. I
searched long and hard to find a photo of this thing and I can't
find out what it was. So far this is an isolated
incident. Should I be on the lookout for more or should some
sort of treatment be started. Or, did I do the right thing
and I can sit back and relax because this won't hurt the
fish. If this happens again do I proceed the same way?
Thanks for taking the time to help, Dave <Dave, try looking up
Planarian on the internet. My hunch is that it is a flatworm
parasite. It can be prevalent in fish that are purchase and
not quarantined for an extended amount of time. I would
suggest keeping a close eye on the fish an make sure it doesn't
come back. If it does then quarantine it. Thanks
MikeB.> <<Likely is a pill bug... a parasitic Isopod.
RMF>>

Parasite on goby? Hello Crew, <Ken> I've got a
yellow watchman goby that I've had for about 8 months. About 2
months ago I noticed that it constantly had its mouth gaping, and
that there appeared to be a white mass on the lower inside of
it's mouth. It was still acting OK and eating, so I just kept
my eye on it. A couple of weeks later I noticed that it had a
1/4" rod shaped projection coming from the side of it's
face. I'm guessing it is some sort of parasite. <Yes, looks
like a parasitic copepod> I tried to catch the fish to isolate
it, but had no luck. Since it does not appear to be contagious,
I've left the fish in the tank rather than tear the whole thing
apart trying to catch it. <These are generally pretty
species-specific. Should not spread> The fish still seems to be
doing fine, and the white mass in the mouth appears to be gone, but
the rod shaped projection has remained about the same. I've
attached a photo of the fish that I took several weeks ago when the
mass was still evident in the mouth. Can you tell me what the cause
of the projection and mass are, and what I should do if anything to
treat the fish. Thanks, Ken <If, when the occasion presents
itself, do pull this off with forceps. Bob Fenner>

Help, Sick Fish Mr. Fenner,
I got your e-mail address off of a
sick fish forum and need your help. I have tested my water
and the parameters are as follows: nitrite - 0, ammonia - 0, nitrates -
10, kH - 12, and pH 8.3. My puffer fish and cow fish are
recent acquirements and I noticed little white spots on the pufferfish
that I originally thought were salt deposits. I now believe
these are ich from what I read. After coming back from
thanksgiving, my cowfish is not moving on the bottom of my
tank. What can I do to help them out? Thank-you, Jason
Edwards <Jason, please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/pufferdisfaqs.htm And onto the Related
FAQs (linked, in blue, at top) and articles on Marine
Ich/Cryptocaryon... and their related FAQs. Bob Fenner>

Ammonia Questions ?? Hi Bob <John> I have the following
problem, please help! Sorry for the long email but giving some history.
I have a 3 foot tank that I set up as a quarantine tank. I took some
media (ceramic balls) from the trickle filter, some media (ceramic
balls) from the sump and 100 litres water from my display tank (Running
for 10 Months) and placed it in the quarantine tank canister filter.
Also added an AquaClear 200 filter on the tank with only a new sponge
for media to build up some bacteria. I put a piece of live
rock (as big as two fists together) in the tank as well. I put a clown
trigger which I bought in the QT tank for a week. I checked the
ammonia, nitrite and nitrate twice daily. For 7 days everything was
fine within acceptable limits. The fish also looked good with no signs
of any disease. I put it into my display tank. (I know this is a bit
soon but needed the QT for other fish). I bought 3 regal tangs of about
50 - 60 mm each. (These are scarce in my town so I had to get them!)
<Not an easy species to keep alive... do check into Pablo
Tepoot's food line "Spectrum"... about the only thing
I've seen that works to get this species going in captivity...
especially when small as yours are><<RMF confused
Paracanthurus with A. lineatus>> They where flicking in the shop
before I got them so I put them in the QT. The salinity at the LFS was
1.018 so I lowered my QT salinity to 1.018. PH is at 9.5 <9.5? This
is WAY too high. Please read re and adjust slowly down to 8.2-8.4>
and temp at 27.5 to 28 C. On day 2 of putting the new fish in QT I
dosed Red sea Paracure (copper) at 0.3 as recommended to clear the
infection on the fish (they had "white-ish" marks on them and
still flicking, not sure if ich or Oodinium). On day 3 started to see
ammonia 0.25 ppm on the card. On day 4 ammonia was at 0.5 ppm on the
card (Red sea copper test kit) so I did a 25% water change with water
from my display tank. Ammonia down to 0.25. Added Paracure to get back
to 0.3 (Nitrite and nitrate is near to 0) On day 5 ammonia was back at
0.5 ppm so I did a 25% water change again with water from my display
tank. Ammonia down to 0.25 again. Added Paracure to get back to 0.3
(Nitrite and nitrate is near to 0). The fish seem fine now and are not
flicking any more but still have small "white-ish" patches on
them. Here are the questions now as I need advice on what to do next:
1. The Paracure label said that it does not affect the bacteria in the
filter. Is this correct? <Doesn't appear so, but...> If so
why do I have the ammonia problem? <Likely the copper or lowered spg
killed off or induced a physiological check in your nitrifiers> 2.
Technically the tank should be cycled as it has all the water from the
display tank as well as the filter material. Is this correct? <Was
likely, but as stated one or both of the medicants and altered spg
bumped off or stalled the process, processors> 2. Does the lower
salinity have an impact on a) the biological filter, <Yes... will
kill most microbes> b) copper dosing and c) ammonia? <Yes> 3.
According to the Red sea ammonia test kit NH4+ is less harmful. This it
the 0.25 to 0.5 that is measured on the card. How bad is this for fish
and how long can fish handle this amount of ammonia. How does it affect
the fish? <Mmm, hard to state... weakened fish livestock may die as
consequence in hours, days at this concentration. 1.0 ppm is almost
always toxic within hours, days> 4. According to the Red sea ammonia
test kit NH3 is toxic ammonia. This value is about 0.016 when
calculated at 0.25 NH4+ and 0.032 at 0.5 NH4+ . How bad is this for
fish and how long can fish handle this amount of ammonia. How does it
affect the fish? <Good question... once again, not a black/white
scenario, but as an added source of "stress", any detectable
ammonia/ammonium is bad news> What I thought of the problem is that
the biological filter is failing and therefore the ammonia spikes. How
can I fix this problem (Would it helped if I put in some Hagen Cycle?
<This product might help... as might adding some more filter media
from your established system, but the best move is to change out good
percentages of the water with used as you've been doing... and
possibly risk dipping the Regal/Clown/Lineatus tangs and moving them to
the display> Any recommendations please of what to do next as I
would like to keep the fish in QT for at least another 2 weeks. Thanks
for the help and excellent web site. Regards John Squier
<The "call" is up to you. I would dip/bath these fish and
move them. Bob Fenner> Fish parasites Hello whoever is there
today. << Blundell today. >> Thanks for your recent help
with my Cyanobacteria problem. I took all your advice and the outbreak
has all but cleared. I need some more help today please. A few days ago
my Clarks clown had a parasite (fluke) hanging off the side of his
body. Looked like a small flat flake. While I was getting ready to try
and net him, whatever the parasite was disappeared - must have fallen
off. Now my peach Anthias has a small raw looking area on its body just
in front of the tail fin. I don't know if the 2 incidents are
related at all or is this is a bacterial infection. The colour has
disappeared in a small patch on the flesh and there appears to be a
little hole on its body. << Doesn't sound good. >> I
have tried in vain to catch this fish, nets, traps aren't working.
He is swimming and eating normally. Can you suggest anything to put
into the tank to help with this fish. << Adding garlic to the
food for sure. Also, I'd consider getting a cleaner
shrimp if you don't already have one. >> What do you think of
trying something like garlic extract, or Rally? << Great idea.
>> I have a 75 gallon reef tank with live rock, many corals, 2
bubble anemones which have been splitting regularly so I am loathe to
remove them, and lots of snails, hermit crabs, 2 starfish, a sea urchin
and a very healthy worm population - besides my fish. I don't want
to upset the equilibrium. The LFS said that a UV sterilizer may work.
<< Yeah that is costly, but it may help in this case.
>> I have been soaking the fish food with Selco to try boost the
fishes resistance and have also raised the salinity of the water to
1.025 to discourage parasites. I would welcome your opinion. <<
The salinity treatment is backwards. To discourage parasites
you lower the salinity. Lets say down to
1.020. This isn't good for your corals and other
inverts, which is the trade off. But I wouldn't be
raising it. >> Many thanks, Sharon J
<< Blundell >>

Fish with parasites? I have a 46 gallon tank with 2
percula's, a rainfordi goby, pygmy angel, bi-color blenny, cleaner
shrimp and lots of live rock. Tank checks out perfectly, 0
nitrates, 0 nitrites, 0 ammonia, ph at 8.2. I have noticed that the
blenny is scratching on the rocks and utilizing the cleaner shrimp
quite a bit. It is fascinating...the blenny will lie against
the live rock and just wait...while the shrimp cleans. Angel
is also visiting the shrimp quite a bit, no noticeable spots
(yet). It has only been a day since I've noticed the
scratching. I turned off my protein skimmer, added a little
stress coat. << Keep the skimmer on. >> The
blenny visits the shrimp quite a bit....do I need to be concerned about
parasites? << Yes, I would start adding garlic to the food
immediately before things become a real problem. Also, a
water change is a good idea. >> Nothing noticeable that I have
seen yet. Tank is established..... L
<< Blundell >>

Pestering Parasites! Thanks Scott. <You're quite
welcome!> Quick follow-up. I have read or have been told somewhere
along the line that parasites are often present on most fish ? even
healthy fish - and are merely latent. <Many parasites are
continuously present on fish, but Cryptocaryon (the causative protozoan
of Marine Ich) is not always present, based on much of the research
that I have done.> I suppose in the case of Ich, they don?t get
through the slime coat on a healthy fish or are not present in
sufficient numbers to cause stress. Is this true? <Yes to the first
part, but the second part is controversial!> If so, going back to my
case, I?d like to be assured that they?re dead before adding a fish to
the main system. If no meds, what would you think about 1) no substrate
in the hospital thank (there is none currently), 2) running a small UV
sterilizer or I?ve also read where people have used germicidal lamps
instead of the regular light bulbs, and 3) with frequent (daily or
every couple of days) water changes from the main tank to try to
capture the Ick while they?re in their non-swimming phase? <Well,
that's very similar to a technique that has been proven to do the
job every time: A bare tank, with 100% daily water changes,
will do the trick. This way, you're destined to get any
free-swimming parasites if you keep it up or 3 weeks...> Thanks!
<Give the 100% changes a try...Good luck! Regards, Scott F> J.D.
Hill Ready to Call it Quits (10/31/04) Hi....I said 155 gals.,
not right, 55 gals is my tank. I'll keep an eye on Swampthing. The
3 clownfish died. <Sorry to hear.> They had a Viral Infection or
something. They turned white up on their faces & their eyes got
cloudy. <Perhaps Brooklynella?> I'm not putting anymore fish
in that tank. If they die, I'm giving my tank to the Thrift store.
I didn't know it was going to be that much work. I knew I had to
check the tank everyday & all the chemicals in there but fish kept
dying & my starfish is gone & I don't know what to do.
I'll keep an eye on Swampthing. Thanks for all your help, Valerie.
<Don't give up just yet Valerie. Most fish diseases will die out
if there are no fish in the tank for several weeks. I'd suggest you
leave it fishless for several months, while attempting to nurture the
population of fascinating invertebrates that come on life rock,
including copepods, mini featherdusters, etc. Maybe get a couple of
cleaner shrimp or a single Coral-banded shrimp. Consider returning the
Green Brittlestar as it will eat the kinds of hardy, beautiful fishes
that are appropriate for this size of tank. A lot of folks have been
having bad luck with clowns since "Finding Nemo," probably
because they are being over-bred. Once the tank has had a few fishless
months to clear up, you could start adding fish, taking care to QT each
new acquisition (Set-up costs less than $50--check the FAQs for ideas.)
for 4 weeks. Ideas would be the Royal Gramma, Firefish, Banggai
Cardinals, Shrimp Gobies, Flasher Wrasses--all hardy, colorful, and
relatively small. You could top the group off with a Flame Angel, which
would be an appropriate centerpiece fish for a 55. Patience is the key
here. Hope this helps, Steve Allen.>

Sick Firefish-Or Funky Behavior? My purple Firefish has been
in Cupramine for nearly two weeks. I treated it because it
looked like it was flashing. On occasion it would dive down,
touch its belly on the bottom and then dart up. It did this
again today after 12 days of copper. Could this be something other than
ich? It never rubs its gills, always the
underside. Also, would it still be doing this after 12 days
in copper? I know that these fish bury themselves in the
sand and I'm wondering if the behaviour I saw is normal. <Good
thought...I have seen similar behavior in Halichoeres species wrasses,
and it can easily be mistaken for "scratching". If the fish
is otherwise appearing healthy, without other symptoms commonly
associated with ich or other parasitic diseases, then I'd back off
the meds and observe the fish for a few more days. If all looks good,
I'd repatriate him into his display tank> If you think it is
ich, after 14 days should I do a water change with display tank water
and try formalin in a few weeks? <May not be ich, as stated above.
I'd opt for observation before another round of stressful
medication.> Many thanks, Peter <My pleasure, Peter! Good luck!
Regards, Scott F>

White spots on a fish's tail Hi, thanks
in advance for your help. I have Fish and Live Rock
setup running for almost 9 months now in a 44 gal hex. and I
he and my Blue Devil Damsel developed what I can only describe as a
couple (as in 2) dots on the tail. The Hawkfish's
spots were very pronounced one spot on the very tips (top and
bottom) of the Caudal Fin. On the Damsel, it was more
translucent , but over the last two days I have noticed that where
the spots occurred on the caudal fin, the fin has began to
deteriorate. Other than the obvious spots on the tail
the fish are acting normally and eating well and it doesn't
appear to be spreading throughout the fish. My other
fish; clown, Valentini Puffer, and Neon Blue Damsel, show no signs
of infection. I do have a spare Nano Cube (about 10
gal.) which I could set up as a quarantine tank, if it is necessary
in which case would I have to let it cycle? Or could I just use
about 3 gallons from my estab. << If you do set up a QT tank,
I probably wouldn't use water from your tank right now, since
we are assuming there is something bad in your tank water. >>
tank and mix it with some freshly prepared water and maybe throw a
piece of LR in for good measure. I'm attaching a
pic. but I am not so sure on the quality. Thank you so
much for your help. (while you are looking at the pic.
would you happen to know what type of coral that is?) <<
I'm not sure on the coral. Here is what I would
do. I'd consider a freshwater
dip. However that is usually stressful to the
fish. So I'd be adding garlic to their food and wait
about 7 days. With heavy garlic feeding I've seen
fish recover incredibly well from this. >> -David Hume
<< Blundell >>

More Parasitic Problems? Some of the fish in my tank started
to show signs of ick in the middle of September.
<Yuck!> My porcupine puffer, sail fin tang, Misbar clown, and two
of my three Cardinals showed signs of ick (white spots covering eyes
and body). My Yellow Tang started to show signs of black
spots. My Valentini Puffer, remaining Cardinal, Hawkfish,
Damsel, and three blennies showed no signs at all. I treated
with Coppersafe on 09/21/04 and also used Maracyn 2 for any secondary
infections. I was able to net and dip with Methylene blue
the Porcupine Puffer, the Sailfin Tang, and the Misbar
clown. I couldn't net the other fish because it was
causing too much stress in the tank. The Misbar clown and
two Cardinals have since died. <Sorry to hear that.> The
Porcupine Puffer and Sailfin Tang cleared up nicely and seem to be
doing fine. The Yellow Tang continued to hide in
the back of the tank and still showed some signs of black
spots. On 09/30/04 I noticed that the yellow tang had red
blotches along his fin line and on his body. On 10/01/04
most of his fin material was gone and the red blotches had
spread. He was having difficulty breathing and
swimming. He died within a few minutes. I
attached a photo of the yellow tang for you to see. The
chemicals in our tank are as follows :PH-between 7.8/8.0, Ammonia- 0,
Nitrite- 0, Nitrates- 20/40. The temperature is 76-78
throughout the day. Was this some sort of disease or water
quality issue? <I'm leaning toward a disease, but it's hard
to be completely certain here.> Should I worry about the other fish
catching what the yellow tang had? I don't have another
tank to use for a quarantine or as a hospital tank. Any
advice that you can give will be greatly appreciated. Thank
you in advance, Julie. <Well, Julie, I am a big believer in
quarantine and treatment of sick fishes in a separate tank. Even a
large Rubbermaid container or other type of container to hold water
will serve as an isolation tank. At this point, I'd let the fishes
stay where they are, and keep observing for any signs of problems.
Sometimes, a rush to treat can be more problematic. Keep calm, observe
carefully, and take action as necessary. Good luck! Regards, Scott
F.> From Bad To Worse? (Parasitic Disease Treatment) Hi
<Hello there! Scott F. here today!> I have a Powder Blue Tang and
a large Emperor Angel that I bought a week ago. I put them into a
quarantine tank. Two days later they had white spot. I used SERA
COSTAPUR, which contains Malachite green. After the 5 day treatment the
fish seem to have "skins" over their eyes and sides of their
heads. They also seem to have very fine spots, much smaller than white
spot. This does not look the same as the white spot when it started.
Please help! What can I do now and what is wrong? I thought of lowering
the salinity to 1.010. Would this help? Thanks John Squier <Well,
John- you could be looking at a more virulent malady, such as
Amyloodinium (Marine "Velvet"). The symptoms that you
describe could be part of this disease, a secondary infection (the
eyes), or even collateral damage caused by the medication. Are the fish
displaying other signs of this disease, such as difficulty breathing,
listlessness, lack of appetite? if so, you nay very well be looking at
Amyloodinium. After you have confirmed that this is, indeed what
you're dealing with, then I'd get the fish into a separate tank
for treatment with a copper sulphate or formalin-based remedy (copper
may be tough on the tang). Standard treatment protocols for this
parasitic disease are outlined here on the WWM site. Follow generally
accepted treatment methods, and monitor your fish carefully. With quick
action on your part, these fishes can pull through. Good luck! Regards,
Scott F> Marine parasites Bob! Troubled times... Out of my
six marine units, two have ich and one has marine velvet. <No fun...
next time, at least pH-buffered freshwater dips... will save you from
99 + % of such troubles...> Would it take a full 4-6 weeks for
marine ich to be out of a fallow system when treated with hyposalinity
and elevated heat? <Maybe so... if it were me, my shop, I'd
"nuke" the affected systems (lightly bleach them per WWM
pitches), and re-cycle with some substrate, water from one of the clean
systems> I want to condense the fish with ich to one unit, and
treat it. I spoke with Dr. Prescott from Fish-Vet and he swears
up and down on his "No-Ich", so I thought I'd give it a
shot. <He is the real thing, has good products> I thought I
could just leave the other unit fallow (and further treat with
hyposalinity) so if it doesn't at least one is on it's way to
being relieved. Marine velvet...is there anything you can
recommend to speed up the process on that unit? <... bleach.>
I have the fish QT'd and being treated. How effective
is it to dry it out? <Not enough... the causative organism/s can
dry, wait out...> I want to be done with this. I
can't afford to have two completely empty units, and one on the
mend (that's 75% of my fish-fish tanks). I also can't
afford to put fish in tanks with parasites. Are there things that
can/should be done from a retail display tanks that aren't
recommended for home display tanks? <Lots... as you can read for
instance in our posted suggestions for acclimation... some procedures
are for hobbyists, others for the trade> Since I have taken over the
fish department I have started freshwater dipping incoming livestock
but we have no established quarantine system. For 1200 gallons of
marine retail space, how many QT gallons should we have? <Depends on
your volume... if you sell pretty much all every two weeks (a given
quarantine cycle) than half the space should be devoted to each>
As a retail store how long should we quarantine for? <Two
weeks is about right> Also, where is formaldehyde commonly sold?
<... chemical supply houses that deal in organics (see your
"Yellow Pages"... the trade sells enough volume, sizes of
formalin likely for your use (see Kordon/Novalek re...) Are you in
California? There may be a usage issue here> Are there any big
pet industry wholesalers that carry it? <... some. Again, ask your
drygoods suppliers if they carry Kordon products. They should... Like
Novaqua, Amquel, Wonder Rock... Bob Fenner> Thanks and be chatting,
Scott Critter Cabana Pounding Parasites! (Another Medication?)
Chloroquine for parasites? You guys have a great website for
information! <Glad that you find it useful! We enjoy bringing it to
you every day!> I have been battling a persistent ich infection and
potential velvet to boot. DON'T ASK. I am now a
quarantine believer, but 1 fish too late. <Well, better
late than never. As long as you learned your lesson, the fish did not
die in vain...> I run a protein skimmer, UV sterilizer, and a
canister filter (convenient for carbon, etc. when needed) along with
two other powerheads for circulation in the tank (100 g acrylic). I had
previously treated quarantined fish with a round of CopperSafe for 14
days to an apparent cure and allowed my main tank to go fallow for 4
weeks. After returning the fish for a 4 week disease-free
period, I purchased 2 more fish (purple tang and Foxface) from a very
reliable dealer that quarantines and dates their fish arrival (fish had
been in same tank for months), therefore did not freshwater dip due to
stress issues that I had previously experienced. <I have a bad
feeling about this...> After a 2 week quarantine in my own tank
(disease free) I added the fish to my main tank (100 gallon FOWLR with
60 lbs LR). After another 2 weeks I suddenly had a
pearl-scale butterfly stop eating and dead the next day with no other
outward signs of disease. 1 week later purple tang and
Foxface had signs of gill problems (gulping air and increased
breathing), followed by a couple days later with external signs of ich
on the purple tang. Tank chemistry was great, temp constant.
<I'm wondering if this was Amyloodinium, not ich. The
"gulping" and difficulty in breathing are symptomatic of
either advanced ich or Amyloodinium...> Now my 20 gallon quarantine
was not big enough for the fish (and my wife not tolerant enough for
more tanks)....soooo .... I remove all invertebrates and live rock to
my 20 gallon (I have no plans for corals) and treated the main tank
with CopperSafe. (I realize you are cringing at this point, but this
was a very calculated move that was made with much thought). <I
wouldn't have done it this way, but I can certainly understand your
reasons for doing this...> Problem solved.. ich gone after 3 weeks
of measured copper treatment.. removed all traces of copper and 2 weeks
later replace the live rock, followed by invertebrates to the
tank. All is great for about a month and suddenly had ich
again and a dusky appearance on the purple tang (maybe
velvet). Repeat the above with lowering spg to 1.016 and
added a cleaner goby and am using Cupramine this time instead of
CopperSafe. <Grr...> Am now finished with the three week
treatment using appropriate daily measurements of copper levels (as
before). All fish are eating great, look full bodied and
healthy, except for lateral line with the purple tang (not surprising
given the copper). <Good observation on your part! One of the
potential side effects of copper with tangs...> I will remove
Cupramine for the next two weeks with PolyFilter and carbon, increase
the salinity, and then return the live rock, followed by the
invertebrates once I see the pods living well. On the upside
the 20 gallon quarantine has great pod growth with no fish to eat them.
<Good to hear that!> Other than the downside of treating my main
tank can I do anything better? This is not a scenario I want to keep
repeating. <Agreed...I might leave the tank fallow for a longer
period of time- like 6 weeks or more. This can really disrupt the life
cycle of the causative protozoa.> Given my prior persistence of
parasite and the nagging fear of an ongoing velvet infection will I get
any advantage from additional treatment with Chloroquine biphosphate?
<I'm skeptical at this point. Could do more harm than good.>
What is your opinion on using Chloroquine biphosphate? Can
it be removed from the tank with carbon after 10 days?
<Carbon/Polyfilter an remove many medications effectively..> It
is very difficult to find any good information on Chloroquine, since
few people seemed to have used it much. Thanks for your
help. Have a great day! Nick Lukacs <Well, Nick
personally have not used the stuff, either. I am more inclined to go
fallow longer than I would be to "nuke" the tank with yet
another medication. Tough on the fauna in the tank, as well as the
fish. Short of thoroughly breaking down the tank and starting over,
I'd go for the longer fallow period, myself. Good luck! Regards,
Scott F.> Don't Give Up Just Yet (9/9/04) Hello WWM,
<HI. Steve Allen tonight.> Great web site. thanks for the helpful
info. <Our pleasure.> Anyway.. I have lost almost every fish in
my reef tank (tank is 8 months old). I believe the problem was Velvet.
<Nasty disease that can indeed wipe out an entire tank.> I have
spent thousands on trying to get the tank set up using the best
equipment. UV sterilizers, skimmers, etc.. I guess a quarantine tank
will be my next purchase before I throw in the towel. <Should have
been your first. The solution to this problem is not a costly high-tech
one, it is a QT that can be had and set-up for under $50.> Ok.. All
corals seem to doing extremely well, Wish I could say the same for the
fish. <They do cause a lot of problems for many folks.> My
question is: I am left with (3) fish that don't look like they are
affected (1) Blue/green Chromis (2) sailfin mollies (fish left over
from tank cycling) & (1) fox face with spots and cloudy eyes that
is not looking to good (probably will die also). <You may be able to
save it in a hospital tank with proper meds, including antiparasitic
and antibiotics. Search the articles an FAQs on marine parasites, and
velvet in particular, for tips.> Do I take out all the fish and let
the tank go fallow. <Yes, at this point, I would recommend 8 weeks
without fish and a strict protocol of 4 weeks in QT for ALL new
acquisitions. All you need is a large Rubbermaid container, a sponge or
power filter (I use a Penguin 170 on mine), a heater and a thermometer.
I Keep mine in an unused basement shower so that I can quickly dump
water and then add new from a plastic water storage container when
doing the frequent water changes often required for a QT.> Or should
I leave those three fish in? <They will just perpetuate the parasite
life-cycle even if they appear (to the naked eye anyway)
unaffected.> I test my water constantly and do a 10% water change
every week. HELP!!!! <I hope this does.> This is the second time
I have lost all my fish to the same situation. I wish I would have
found your site a month ago. I would have had a quarantine tank.
<Too bad that so few LFS recommend this. So many arrogantly assert
that their merchandise is disease-free, despite vast evidence to the
contrary.> Thank you! <Hang in there. With QT and patience, you
will succeed.> URL for microscopic pix of marine parasites?
Hi Guys, Can you tell me where on the web I can get
comprehensive microscope pictures of the various parasites
that invade salt water aq fish. Thanks Ian <Wish I could... as far
as I'm aware there is no such reference online. Maybe you will
assemble, maintain such. Bob Fenner> <<Oh, there ARE book
references of such. RMF>>

Is It Ich-Or Isn't It? Hi, I have noticed that 3 out of 4
of my fish have white spots, but only on their fins. It has
been there for about 2-3 weeks but I initially figured it was just
sand, so I ignored it. But now 3 fish have it, Volitans Lion, Harlequin
Tusk Wrasse, and a Dogface Puffer, but my Yellow tang seems unaffected.
<That's a switch!> They are small sugar-like pieces. I called
liveaquaria.com's phone number and they said it was likely
bacterial. I have noticed in the last week that the lion has been near
the heavier water current rather than sitting in a corner. Thank You,
Jonathan <Well, Jonathan, he symptoms sound more like ich or another
parasitic condition to me. Of particular interest is the fact that the
lion has been positioning himself in the current...I'd read up on
he WWM site on this illness, confirm if this is indeed what you are
dealing with, and take the proper action. Good luck! Regards, Scott
F> Many Woes Due to Parasites (8/23/04) Hi there. <Steve
Allen here tonight> I was as excited as a Cheese head at a Green Bay
game <I've been in Lambeau Field in January--c-c-c-cold!!>
when I saw we could contact Mr. Fenner and his staff. <'Tis my
pleasure to be a small part of his great work at this site.> That
book is indispensable. <My saltwater bible.> Had to admit,
though, that I thought anybody as knowledgeable as you folks would have
to be, well, rather geeky. It comes from years of working
with IT people, who really ARE geeky. <The ones I work with really
aren't. Really.> Read your intros, saw the pictures --
you're not even a sociable, entertaining and smart group but
you're darn attractive folks too! <Head swelling rapidly. It
certainly is a remarkably diverse group sharing the same passion.>
I scoured the FAQs, the forum, other web sites, still am a
little stymied. Please help: <I'll give it a shot.> My
husband and I headed upstairs Thursday evening to watch a delayed
broadcast of the Astros/Phillies game (the good guys won). <And that
would be??> I went over to feed the tank -- 45-gallon hex -- and
noticed that the sponge I knew was not doing well but thought was still
alive -- had disintegrated. <Toxic discharge!> Three of my fish
were dead. <So sorry to hear. Some sponges can do this.> The Humu
trigger was panting hard. We grabbed some water from the
tank downstairs and salvaged him, a large Zebrasoma purple tang and two
perculas and brought them to the big tank. Realize in
retrospect we should have put them in a quarantine tank but it
wasn't up and operating then...we were having no problems at all
with either tank but for the sponge. <For future reference, you can
store some biomedia in your sump to put in a QT and cycle it up
rapidly. If you have an LFS that carries Bio-Spira Marine, this will
work too.> The tank downstairs is 200 gallons. Carries:
1) 2 triggers, clown and Niger (now 3, incl. the Humu/Picasso) 2) 3
yellow tangs (small) -- plus now a purple tang 3) 1 juvenile annularis
4) 1 marine Betta/comet grouper 5) 2 hippo tangs (small) 6) 2 wrasses,
Halichoeres and Thalassoma 7) 2 small perculas (now) <These Tangs
are going to tear each other apart when they get bigger. Don't be
surprised if the Clown kills everything else once it gets close to
10" or so--will get even bigger. This tank has way too many fish
with very large eventual sizes. Some will have to go as they grow.>
We have a UV sterilizer on it, run RO water. <Smart. Many on the
crew do not advocate UV. Be sure to use proper wattage and flow rate
for best effect.> Water quality is good. <We do like numbers here
as "good" is a very flexible term.> Tank has been in
operation for about 5 years now; <cool> the purple tang is from
the inaugural purchase when we moved up from a
75-gallon. Aragamax substrate, last partial was 3 weeks ago,
25%. Noticed tonight that we have a little bit of crypto creeping onto
the hippo tangs and the annularis. <So much for UV. Flow rates for
parasites should be much lower than for other things. Check the
manufacturer's recommendations for your size tank.> Started
coppering. <Goodbye biofilter, live rock and inverts. Always best to
treat in QT. Read all about copper woes on WWM.> Also noticed a
singular white spot on the dorsal fin of the Humu. Same spot
is on the body of the purple tang, just in front of the tang
projection. Saw the same spot on a yellow tang, also in front of the
tang projection, and on the annularis. <Sounds contagious if they
all have it.> It's about the size of the point of a
ballpoint pin. And of course, to top it off, the other two yellow tangs
suddenly showed up with the initial phase of black spot disease.
<Yikes, what a mess.> I know we stressed the fish by tossing in
those four new guys but we were afraid we were going to lose
them. Socialization isn't a problem <for now>; the
Humu is an inch and a half long, the perculas are smaller than that,
and there are plenty of hiding areas and living space among the live
rock and barnacles. We can send a photo of the white spots
if needed. <If you can get a good one, it may help. If this is the
beginning of ich, it will either spread or go away with the copper you
used.> Only one per fish, showing on four
fish. Definitely not affecting appetite or swimming yet. Is
not crypto -- we know that one! -- and doesn't look like those
cauliflower pictures I'm seeing, specially since it's not on
the lips. <Lymphocystis (fish warts) can occur anywhere on a fish,
though fins & lip may be more common. If by being certain that it
is not ich because of the copper, this is not so because the live rock
absorbs the copper (only to continuously leach it or months or years)
and makes it very difficult to achieve and maintain therapeutic levels.
You really should consider getting all of the sick fish into some sore
of QT arrangement for observation and treatment. You may lose them all
to ich or Blackspot if you don't get this under control. Do read
the articles and FAQs about parasites in general, ich, and Blackspot.
Also, you may want to read Steven Pro' excellent series of ich
articles that began 8/03 at www.reefkeeping.com. Also, consider joining
our chat forum at http://wetwebfotos.com/talk/ and
getting ideas from that group. Lots of experience and willingness to
share there.> Any ideas?? <Hope these get you started.>
Thanks, Susan Kooiman

Re: Disease forming, we think Hi, "Will" here -
Susan's husband. <Hi. Steve Allen with you again.> We know
how to deal with crypto and yellow-tang black
spot. <Good. I hope this works out well. Some people
really struggle with this and eventually give up. We discourage copper
in display tanks because of its hazards to desirable organisms and its
propensity to bind to live rock and remain.> We're not worried
about those except that it's a sign of stress/water quality.
<Definite factors. Nothing you could really do to avoid the sponge
disaster.> I know our water quality isn't as good as it should
be, but it isn't too bad. <We all would love to have better
water quality.> The phosphates were a little high (around
2.0), so we did the Kent Marine phosphate sponge for 2 days, then we
did a 20% partial. The nitrates had been around 40 before
the partial. That was 3 weeks ago. <Sounds like a good
approach. Neither of these are dangerous if kept reasonable, but
certainly promote nuisance algae.> The white spots are
new to us. The largest is about half the size of a pencil eraser. <I
agree that this cannot be ich.> The smallest is about half of that.
I'm attaching a picture of our Picasso trigger. <Kinda fuzzy, so
hard to be sure what this is. Is it raised or flat?> There is one
white spot on each of 4 fish. They resemble a salt crystal,
but they're a lot larger than crypto. The Picasso looks
like it is swollen just under the spot, but it's hard to tell
because it is near his fin. The other fish don't seem to
be swollen. The spots are all on the back 1/2 of the fish. I
don't see any fuzziness or "streamers" hanging from the
spots. The fish that have the spots also have a mild case of
crypto. <Perhaps a localized more intense inflammatory reaction or
bacterial infection. Hard to be sure. Optimum, stable water quality,
excellent nutrition, and minimal stress all may be helpful.> After a
.25 dose of copper for 4 days, the spot is almost gone on two of the
fish. I can't tell that well on the annularis because he hides a
lot. <Sounds like it may be related to the ich in some way.>
We've only had him for about 2 weeks. The bump/spot on
the Picasso hasn't changed. My guess (key word is guess) is some
kind of parasitic isopod or copepod. <Another possibility. Does it
look like one of the pictures you've seen? There is info on WWM
about how to remove these if so.> I've never seen those pests
except in books. Can you make out anything in the picture?
<Too blurry> Any ideas? <As above. Hard to think of much you
haven't already. If it doesn't go away, one option would be to
catch the trigger and examine with a magnifier.> If this is crypto,
it must be an opera singer. <LOL> The fish aren't acting
weird yet. They aren't scratching. They
aren't breathing hard. They're eating and swimming
like nothing's wrong. <All are very reassuring & encouraging
indicators.> Incidentally, we've done well in the
past. We usually keep a fish for 3-5 years. We
usually take them back to the store in good health to be sold again -
for a change in scenery, not because they are too large or too
aggressive. <Interesting strategy which has the added benefit of
preventing aggression as they grow and keeping things from getting too
crowded.> We had something like 7 tangs of varying species w/out any
aggression to speak of. <Good> We also had 4 triggers - for 3-4
years - again, no aggression. <Sometimes it takes longer, perhaps
they get mean in their old age. These fish can live well beyond 10
years. Glad to hear yours are still "mellow."> Sometimes
things don't work out,<Things happen sometimes despite our
efforts, right?> but that's only happened a few times in 7
years. We've had 2 fish kills - the orange-finger sponge
toxification and a power outage while we were out of town. <Tow
things we all fear, especially having something bad happen when
we're not around.> Thanks for your input. It helps a
lot. <Glad to chat.> Will. <Do keep us posted if you get a
better picture or somehow figure this out. Sometimes things just go
away without one every knowing what they were.> 2 Parasitic
Diseases- One Big Headache! Hi Crew, <Scott F. your Crew member
tonight!> Great site & great contribution by your team. Please
keep up the great work. <Thank you so much for the kind words!
we're glad to bring it to you every day!> I am confused at how
to tell the difference in symptoms between Clownfish disease
& Marine Velvet. Can anyone tell us in clarity what's the major
difference between the two? <Well, "Clownfish Disease"
(Brooklynella) is a virulent parasitic disease that mainly affects-you
guessed it- Clownfishes! It's primary symptoms are a really thick,
whitish mucus coat on the fish, lack of appetite, faded color, rapid
respiration, and "gasping". Marine Velvet, also known as
Amyloodinium, is equally virulent, but is evidenced mainly by blemishes
or cloudy areas on the skin, heavy scratching, rapid respiration, and
just maybe, some visible very fine spots, visible under
magnification> I understand that treatment are NOT the same too.
Clownfish Disease requires Formalin baths, whereas Velvet requires
Copper based treatment. Is this true? <True, but you can certainly
use copper for both, if administered carefully.> Would you recommend
JUST hyposalinity & once in 3 days fresh water dip as sufficient
treatment for the diseases mentioned without getting involved with
chemical treatment? <Gosh...lots of opinions and controversy on the
effectiveness of hyposalinity and dips. In fact, we just had a series
of emails among Crew members on the relative effectiveness of these
techniques, and there are lots of points of view on this. My personal
feeling is that these dips can possibly help, but they are not a
"cure" in the strict sense. Virulent illnesses like the ones
you are describing require medical intervention, IMO> What's
minimum duration for fresh water bath to be ABSOLUTELY effective &
yet the fish is still "alive" ( your site says 3, 5, 10 min
etc) ? How about baby size small fish ? <Tough to generalize. And,
as I indicated above, they are more of a supplemental therapy, and will
generally not "cure" the disease on their own. I would not
dip a fish more than 15 minutes. 10 minutes is about as long as I'd
generally want to go, however.> Do you have experience that entice a
Regal Angel to feed? I need some direction/help here.
Thanks, SC <Another tough one. I'd consider using a food like
Ocean Nutrition's "Angel Formula", which does contain
sponges, which are thought to be a principal part of the Regal's
diet. HTH! Regards, Scott F.>

Parasitic Disease Follow Up Hi Scott, <Hi there again!>
Thank U Big time. You are so helpful. I have really learnt
something. Appreciate this valuable lesson. Best regards, SC
<Glad I could be of assistance, my friend! We are all learning
together, each and every day! Best of luck to you in your fishy
endeavours! Regards, Scott F>

Possible Parasitic Problem? Hi There, <Hey! Scott F. here
today!> I recently purchased a pair of clowns (well two days ago
actually) the one has adapted really well and is diving around the
place however the other looks very lethargic and is breathing
heavily. Tests all show OK. <I assume that means no
detectable ammonia, nitrite> I appreciate that other posts ask
similar questions however there is no slime on the fish nor white
spots. He hangs in his hosting coral all day and hasn't
fed on two occasion (but nor has the other clown.) Is this
really bad? <Well, it's hard to be sure. Sometimes, a fish can
have Amyloodinium ( a virulent parasitic disease) without the other
obvious external signs; just lethargy and difficulty in breathing.
I'd keep a careful eye on this fish, and be prepared to take
aggressive action if it becomes necessary. If you've eliminated the
possibility of environmental problems, focus on the possibility of
parasitic illness. Use the resources that we have here on WWM on
parasitic diseases, and feel free to ask questions again if we are able
to help you out. Good luck! Regards, Scott F.> Thanks in advance.
Chris I have a 40 gallon Chromis tank with an AquaMedic 2000 P/S, 2
powerheads. Tank is 10 weeks old; I have three shrimps, 10 snails, 10
hermit crabs, 1 lobster, and 35 lbs of live rock. The only fish are the
two clowns. Calcium 460, KH 8.3, nitrite, nitrate & ammonia 0,
salinity 1.026 temp 26.5 (in the day). Moorish Idol Woes / Parasites
(7/22/04) I was hoping you could help me with a disease diagnosis
and treatment. I recently purchased a Moorish Idol 3 weeks ago. He has
been eating everything I give him and has been doing fine.
<Ostensibly, anyway.> Until today he has developed small
"dusty'" white powdered spots over his body. It does not
look grainy or sandy like ich. <Ich doesn't necessarily look
that coarse. Velvet tends to be powdery, perhaps this is it.> It
looks like it is under his skin, nearest his gills and eyes.
He is still eating normally and swimming around as normal, maybe a
little faster than normal. There does not seem to be any gasping or
clamped fins. <Good signs all.> He is the only tank member that
looks like this. <I'd get him out of there and into a hospital
tank for treatment.> He also has developed one cloudy eye. <May
be bacterial infection.> It is slightly enlarged and grayish in
color. <Search "Popeye" on WWM for info.> Have treated
with Epsom salt but has not helped. All help is welcome. Thanks
<This certainly sounds parasitic. In your shoes, I'd get him
into a hospital tank for treatment. Read the parasite articles/FAQs for
options. Steve Allen.>

Amyloodiniumiasis or Brooklynellosis or
neither! Hi, I just finished reading this month's
issue of "Conscientious Aquarist" magazine. Awesome. One more
reason to surf the web at work! << I enjoy it as well. >>
I have a 72 gallon tank with 6 shrimp, 1 hermit crab,
1 Banggai cardinal, 1 Ocellaris Clown and 1 Orchid Dottyback -in that
pecking order! Almost everyday the Dottyback has a patch of mucous on
it's surface, body or fin, that is about 1mm by 1mm. << This
wouldn't worry me. >> It moves around day to day and even
morning to evening. All fish were quarantined -3 weeks for the cardinal
and about 2 weeks for the other two. Nothing showed up then. The
Dottyback has been in the display for over 6 weeks now and has been
showing these symptoms for the past 4 or 5 weeks. << If he swims
well, and eats, I say don't worry. >> This
isn't ich, as I've dealt with ich before when it wiped out
everything in my tank twice!!! Upon reading WWM, these symptoms appear
to be Amyloodiniumiasis or Brooklynellosis, except for the fact that
the fish is behaving fine and has been for over a month -knock on wood!
Could this just be damage from scraping against rocks and decor -he is
a pretty jittery fish! << Usually fish will scrape and rub
against rocks to rub things off of them. >> Tank had been set up
for 11 months now. The shrimp have been there since day one, crab since
December, cardinal since April, clown since mid-may and the dotty back
since 5/28. No additions since then. Salinity -1.025 Nitrates
-don't register on test kits... Ph -8.0 -slowly increasing it to
8.2 with Seachem Marine Buffer Temp -78.8F just before lights out to
78.1F early morning -consistent everyday. 20% water change 3 times a
month. Should I be concerned? Every time I move a fish to the hospital
tank for treatment I end up killing it, so that's my last option.
<< Well here is what I would do. I would buy a tank
raised cleaner goby, and maybe a cleaner shrimp. If it is a
parasite problem they can really help. I wouldn't go
with the hospital tank, unless you have to. As long as the
fish is out swimming and eating, I wouldn't be too worried.
>> Thank You! Narayan
<< Blundell >>

A Risk Worth Taking (Parasitic Disease Treatment Assumption)
Hi there, <Hey! Scott F. with you today!> I'm writing from
Australia and I just wanted to say what a great site you guys have over
there, its a treasure trove of information and thank you for making it
as accessible as it is. <You're quite welcome! We're
thrilled to bring this site to our fellow fishy friends all over the
world each day!> Anyway, to the reason I am writing: I have a
problem with a pair of non-mated black Ocellaris clown
fish. A little over a month ago, I introduced
a pair of juvenile Black Ocellaris clowns into my 180
liter FOWLR. Tan Ocellaris, relatively mature (2 odd
years old). These were the first fish to be introduced into
this tank apart from 5 Trochus snails and 10 hermit crabs (as its
previous occupants had been moved to a recently set up 750 liter a
couple of months earlier). When introduced the water parameters
where good (PH-8.4, Alk-200ppm, temp 26deg.C, Ammonia-0, Nitrites-0
& Nitrates-0). The fish took a while to start eating. The
larger of the two (late juvenile stage) took 4 days to eat and the
smaller of the two, did not eat at all, and consequently withered away
(with no visible signs of any sort of disease). I found this odd
as they where supposedly tank reared. In any case I put the death down
to stress (and they where enticed with a whole range of live and fresh
seafood). <Very frustrating. Although the tank raised Clowns should
be categorically more hardy than wild-collected ones, thee are still
some low-quality specimens out there on the market. also, the handling
along the chain of custody from breeder to LFS could have resulted in a
great deal of stress, as you suspect> The survivor picked up after
"she" started eating, and was/is very lively. 5 days
ago I added a potential mate for my lonely BOCF, a 2.5cm juvenile
(smaller the survivor). When introduced (and not QT'd (I
realize the mistake made here and will in future change my
philosophy)), "He" seemed to adapt relatively quickly,
taking food within half an hour, and apparently getting along with
his tank mate. Anyway, yesterday he began to act a little
lethargic and swam very slowly in an area of little current.
<Hmm...not a great sign> When I placed some food in the tank
he perked up again and ate. When I checked them after work
today, I noticed that both fish had markings on them;
"He" has a pinkish/reddish legion or discoloration that
extends unbroken from his rear white stripe to his middle white stripe
and is about 2mm thick. He also has another similarly coloured
blotch on his front white stripe (2mm dia). The marks do not
appear to be raised off the skin. He did not seem too interested
in the eating, would only go after bits that floated near him.
<Well, the fact that he is still eating is a hopeful sign, but the
skin discoloration could be a possible symptom of either Amyloodinium
or Brooklynella- bother very deadly diseases which ca kill quickly if
not addressed> "She" has a similarly coloured but 1mm
thick extending in a similar fashion, from under her pectoral fins to
her tail. The same pectoral fin is also scraggy,
it looks kind of frayed and is in parts translucent (unlike
her other pectoral fin which is jet black). She also, where
possible not using that fin to swim. When fed, "she"
ate like a pig!! <Well, as stated above- feeding is very good...But
I think prompt action may be necessary> As can be seen by the length
of this email (which I apologize for), I am deeply concerned for the
well being of my charges (and I trust that I have provided enough
information). <Yes, you are- and the information provided was very
helpful> I have trolled through your FAQ's and have been
unable to find a similar question. I would ask that you help
me in identifying the problem and a possible cure?? I do not know
if this is a physical scratch, fungus, or disease (I have ruled out
ich, as there are no visible white dots). Thank you very much for your
help and keep up the good work. Cheers,
Eamonn <Well, Eamonn-it's hard to be
absolutely certain without a picture, but some of the symptoms that you
are describing (i.e.; lethargy, hanging in the current, blotchy
discoloration) are similar symptoms to some of those common to
Amyloodinium or Brooklynella. Other signs to look for are difficulty
breathing, discharge of thick mucus off of the fish's body, and
loss of appetite. I usually don't rush to treat unless I'm 100%
certain what I am treating, but I'd err on the side of caution here
and assume (gulp) that I might be looking at one of these two illnesses
(try a key word search using our Google search feature on the WWM site
just to verify), and set up a treatment tank and begin using a copper
sulphate or formalin-based medication (exactly per manufacturer's
instructions). If this is either of the two aforementioned diseases,
hours count. I'd rather lose a fish in an attempt to save it then
to watch it die a rapid death without taking the chance at treating it.
I think that this is a risk worth taking. Good luck! Regards, Scott
F.>

Internal Affairs? (Possible Internal Parasites) I have a red
Coris in a 55 gallon tank with a blue devil (I removed him) and a jaw
fish. My Coris and jaw fish are both belly up and are still alive. My
Coris has a swollen anus (and I have heard that Coris usually have
internal parasites) and my jaw fish has white stringy mulm that comes
out 24/ 7 (My royal Gramma had the same thing and died a few months
back). They got along with each other (surprisingly) until they got
sick. what do you think is wrong with them? <Well, I'd have to
agree with you...The internal parasite hypothesis seems like the one
that I'd research further. Do read up more on these conditions on
the WWM site to see if you can find something similar. Use or Google
Search Feature or check on the Parasitic Disease FAQs and articles for
more. Good luck! Regards, Scott F>

White spots that come and go 6/2/04 Hey
all, First, I'd like to say thanks for the great
website. Very informative and a necessary tool to me. <Glad you have
benefited!> I have a 20gal tank that is 2 months old now. I have 15#
of live rock, 30# Aragamax substrate, Red Sea Prizm skimmer, Penguin
Bio-wheel 170 power filter, 2 turbo snails and 2 saddleback
clowns. Up until three days ago I also had a Yellow-tail
Blue Damsel that I gave away to a friend two days ago as he was a
nuisance to the clowns. <All sounds fine. Do be aware that bio-wheel
type filters tend to lead to nitrate accumulation.> Have been doing
20% water changes every two weeks (religiously), the most recent change
was 5 days ago. Current water levels are PH 8.4, gravity 1.022, temp
78F, Ammonia 0.25, Nitrate 2.5, Nitrite 0.1. I certainly noticed this
increase in the nitrate level occur over the last 2 day period as it
was at 0 for nitrate and .05 for nitrite for the last 2-3 weeks. Am
going to do another water change tomorrow (just need to get salt mix
from the store) to lower those nitrates. <Nitrate is nothing to
worry about, but ammonia and nitrite certainly are! Do check
your test kits against others.> Last night I
noticed white spots on both clowns that I have had for almost 6 weeks
now. This morning I couldn't see the spots at all but did a
freshwater dip on them anyways. Everything seemed clear but tonight I
notice the spots are back. After doing the dip this morning I noticed
that one of the clowns eye became hazy. I first thought this was Ick
hence why I did the dip. Their behavior seems fine right now. They have
been eating, swimming around, but they do seem to breath at a quick
pace. Not sure if this is normal or not as they have been doing it
since I bought them. They sure seem to be happier without the damsel
chasing them around. <Could be Ich, could be velvet. The
fast breathing is more consistent with velvet, but also comes with very
advanced Ich.> Any idea what the spots could be if not Ick? After
reading the FAQ's I thought about the possibility of low oxygen in
the water. However, I would imagine that the skimmer does a pretty good
job of oxygenating the water while scrubbing. <I agree that low O2
is probably not the problem.> If this is a lymph... would two weeks
harm them as I don't have the money at this time to buy a cleaner
shrimp? Am thinking that this is due to environmental factors but
cannot explain the spike in the nitrates as they had previously done
that and had been down for the last 2 1/2 weeks. <I am not sure why
your ammonia and nitrite went up. I don't know what you
mean by lymph. If it is ich or velvet, they need to be
treated immediately.> Anything that I am missing? I don't have a
QT so am hampered to do everything within this tank. Am still learning
the salt water fish so started off with a small tank till I have the
experience (and the space) for a larger system. Thanks much,
Leonard <My advice is to pick up a 10 gallon tank to use as a
hospital tank. Set the tank up by filling it with equal
parts of water from your tank and newly mixed salt
water. You can use a couple of flower pots or pieces of PVC
pipe to provide the fish cover. Move the BioWheel to the new
tank and let it run for a day. Move the fish to the hospital
tank. Over a couple of days, lower the salinity in the
hospital tank to 1.014. If you can find Aquatronics brand
"Marex" or "Quinsulfex", these can be added as a
one time dose at 35mg/gallon. Hold the fish at the lower
salinity for two weeks. Raise the salinity back to normal
over another two weeks. Hold the fish for two more weeks at
normal salinity (total of six weeks). At this time, they can
be returned to the display. In the mean time, do not add any
other fish to the display since parasites may still be
present. Best Regards. Adam>

Parasitic Illness Counterattack! After doing much research, I
decided to purchase 2 captive-bred ocellaris. One reason I chose
captive-bred was to avoid the many health problems that seem to come
with wild-caught. <A good reason, among others> After a 5 minute
freshwater/Methylene blue dip, I put my 2 new fishies in my 10 gallon Q
tank last Friday. <Awesome.. Glad to hear that you are embracing
this procedure!> Both are eating enriched frozen brine shrimp, but
one is just not very interested in eating. It eats a few bites, then
mostly samples & spits. I've also tried flake, frozen Mysis,
and even went and bought a few live brine to try to get them more
interested. Anyway, after about a day in quarantine, I noticed they
both have stringy feces. Hmm, so much for buying captive-bred to avoid
problems. My reading says this is probably internal parasites. <That
would be my hunch, too.> I've placed an order for Pipzine and it
should be here tomorrow. To complicate matters, one clown is breathing
a little more quickly today, with its mouth open. <That is not
good...could be a sign of something more problematic...> This is the
fish that's less interested in eating. I'm guessing we're
going downhill from here, and more reading makes me think Brooklynella.
But there aren't any slime coat issues yet. <Good news, but this
could be the beginnings of this serious illness. If the water
conditions are good (i.e.; no ammonia and nitrite), this parasitic
disease is a definite suspect> I went out and bought some formalin,
and the 2 are currently in a bath of 1 gallon of water from their Q
tank, with 1ml of formalin, and an airstone. They seem to be tolerating
it well, and I plan to leave them in for 30 minutes. <Good
procedure> Enough background. Now the questions. 1. Am I doing the
right thing? <Yes, although some people use formalin in the tank
continuously, as you would copper sulphate or other meds.> 2.How
often do I need to repeat the dip, and how many times till I'm
done? <I'd repeat daily, and do it for about 5 days, or until
symptoms subside> 3.When the Pipzine gets here, do I use it?
<I'd actually hold off on this for a bit. You really don't
want to expose the fish to a potentially stressful "cocktail"
of ingredients. Besides, if this is Brooklynella, it is a very serious
disease; one which must be licked before you attack the potentially
less serious internal parasitic problem> 4.Assuming the Brooklynella
parasites are now in the Q tank, do I need to do something after
treatment to keep them from being reinfected? (I actually have some
biological filtration going that's effectively controlling the
ammonia. Do I need to treat the tank for the parasite, thus eliminating
my filtration?) <I'd opt to dose the formalin directly into the
quarantine tank, myself. I think that a sustained dosage may be more
effective than brief dips. If you are dealing with Brooklynella, the
quarantine tank must be thoroughly broken down and sterilized when
you're done with the treatment process.> Many thanks. Suzanne
<My pleasure, Suzanne. Hang in there and follow through with your
treatment course. You've done everything right so far...Keep it up!
Regards, Scott F.>

Parasitic Isopods Hello guys! <Hi there! Scott F. in
today> I really need some help. I just set up a new 150 gallon reef
and released some fish I've had for some time into it. About a week
later (last night) I discovered a small (1/8 to perhaps 1/4 inches)
isopod has attached itself to the tail of one of my pajama cardinals.
<Yuck> I have not had a chance to even try to capture the fish
yet. I know I must capture and remove. I guess what I am asking is I
have heard that once you have one (one RC) you likely have a lot more
and a typical nightmare. Please tell me this isn't true. It
doesn't say that in Bob's book! If it is what should I do?
Thank you all so much. Brian <Well, Brian- where there is one, there
could be others. Don't run off headless and do something that
you'll regret later. Short of "nuking" the tank with
aggressive medications (which I DO NOT recommend), you just need to
stay very vigilant, and be prepared to remove any fishes that become
afflicted with these guys in the future. Remain calm, observe your fish
very carefully, and stay alert! Sometimes the best course of action is
not to do anything...Regards, Scott F>

Counterattacking Parasitic Diseases Hi, <Hey! Scott F. at
your service!> We bought a blue tang, and stupidly did not
quarantine it. <A lesson learned, huh?> Within two days, it died
after lying on the bottom of the tank breathing furiously, covered in
white spots. <Yuck> We also have an Orange Bar Tang, two Percula
Clowns, and a Zebra Dartfish. We have quarantined them into a separate
tank now. <Good to remove them to a separate tank for
treatment/observation> Would flushing the old tank and washing the
components in freshwater, even leaving it with freshwater for a few
days and heating to 80F whilst treating the quarantined fish with
copper supplement and increased temperature work, and would this clear
the system? <That is certainly one way to help rid the system
of potential parasites. You could also use the "fallow tank"
technique that we advocate on the WWM site, and you won't have to
refill the tank with fresh water. Just leave it fallow for 6 weeks or
so, and that should do the trick in most cases> I really want to
clear this up pretty quickly! <Well, it's a faster process to
eradicate the parasite from the fish than it is to eradicate it from
the aquarium itself. Take your time and be patient. This technique will
generally work well!> I have been reading your site, and am now
dreading losing the other fish. Please let me know what I can do to
sort this out. Thanks a lot Elizabeth Montague-Brown <Elizabeth, you
are absolutely on the right track! Use a commercial copper-sulphate
medication to treat the infected fish in a separate tank, and let the
display run fallow. It's really as easy as that! Here is a link to
an article that I wrote on this very technique. Hopefully, it will be
useful to you: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ichart2mar.htm
Good luck! Regards, Scott F.>

Taking The Fight To Parasites! Okay, I am hoping for some
advice here. <I'll give it my best shot! Scott F. here
today!> A few days ago, my Powder Blue Tang, which I have had for
6-8 weeks, and my Coral Beauty Angel, which I have had for almost 5
years, have both broken out with ich. I guess it must have come in on a
new coral? <Hard to say, but cysts could have dome in this way.
Another reason why we advocate the quarantine of anything that goes
into your tank...Well worth the effort.> I did place one coral
directly into the display tank, because both of my quarantine tanks
were holding new arrivals (fish) with low salinity and copper. <Good
reason NOT to place the coral in that tank!> Anyway, whatever the
source, the fish are both sick. None of the other fish (Sixline Wrasse,
Marine Betta, Black Blenny, Target Mandarin, and three Chromis) are.
Water parameters are good. Calcium is a little low (340) but I am
working on bringing that up, and I don't see how it could affect
the fish. PH is 8.3, Nitrates are about 0.5 ppm Salinity is about
1.024. The Coral Beauty is pretty well infected, and Powder Blue is
absolutely covered. Body, fins, even eyes are covered in white pimply
dots. But both fish continue to swim, behave and eat more or less
normally. A little lethargic, but not bad. No dazed hovering, erratic
swimming, bumping into things or ignoring food. <All good signs, if
you can use that term! The fact that the fish are eating is a good
thing, though.> Part of me wants to remove these fish to a
quarantine tank with copper and low salinity, possibly using a
freshwater dip on the way to the new tank. But aside from the fact that
both QT are full, I can't help but wondering if the stress of
netting, dipping, and moving to an unfamiliar, smaller, relatively
barren tank wouldn't do more harm than good, stressing the PB,
leading to infection, and ultimately death. The fish have been
surviving the infection for three or four days now, though it continues
to get worse. Would you recommend moving these fish? What treatments
would you recommend? <I would recommend moving the fish to a
separate facility for treatment. I am a big advocate of copper
sulphate, but with tangs and Centropyge Angelfish, it is recommended to
avoid this treatment. I'd use a formalin based product, instead.
The mild stress of moving the fish is infinitely less dangerous than
the potential for further decline if you leave the fish in the tank,
untreated. If it were me, I'd do it the old-fashioned way: Get the
fish out of the display and into a separate container for treatment
with a commercially available formalin-based product. Follow
manufacturer's directions to the letter. Yes, you can use copper,
but you need to very carefully monitor the concentration, and
discontinue its use if further problems arise. Long-term copper
exposure is bad for tangs, particularly.> All I have been doing thus
far is feeding them food laced with Kent Garlic extract, and praying.
I'm tempted to leave them where they are and hope for the best. I
don't want to lose either fish. Any suggestions? Jim Jensen
<Well, Jim, as above- I'd get 'em out and treat them.
It's vital to take quick action with these illnesses. The longer
you wait, the more potential for damage and secondary infections there
is. Good luck! Regards, Scott F>

Cysts at Night? Hello and thank you in advance for your time!
<No problem! Ryan with you today> Here's my problem...I have
a 10 month old tank. It was stocked sparingly with various soft corals,
a few inverts, and two fish. The two fish being a Blue velvet damsel
and a Tomato clown....both , VERY healthy. <Great> At this point
having relatively a "good" feeling about things, I decided to
spend a little money on a Coral Beauty Angel...I watched it in the
store for a week...watched it eat and thrive...etc. Well, long story
short...after two days in my tank I noticed spots...ONLY at night. Well
despite an emergency fresh water dip...I lost the Angel. <I see-
Coral Beauty Angelfish have a relatively good reputation- But it's
not well earned in my book. I'm not sure if it's
collection techniques, holding facilities, or what exactly, but I have
had bad luck with this fish as well.> Now for the heartbreak!!!! My
very well established clown now has the same symptoms...again, ONLY at
night. <Ich cysts on his skin?> I know what coming...so I guess
my question is.... How, without copper, can I break this cycle?!?!?!?
<No way without copper, quarantine. Garlic can buy you
time, but the ich will win someday without proper treatment> I
should also mention the Damsel is unaffected...which adds to my
confusion! <He will be. Fish are able to maintain health
while exposed to disease- for some time. Once stress levels
rise, disease has an entry. Some fish are just able to
"kick" some ailments...for a time.> Just for the
record...my water tests fine.... and my corals are thriving....I'm
a newcomer to this hobby and very discouraged...Please help! <Please
read the FAQs about setting up a very cheap, safe quarantine
system. It's well worth it's weight in gold.> My
sincere thanks for any help you may be able to offer <I hope that I
have- No magic cures here, but we all have been down this road, and are
happy to show you the way. Ryan> D. McMorrow

Sick! (4/27/04) hello-- <How goes it? Michael
here> I seem to have a sick Volitans lionfish, he is breathing very
heavily. <Not good> I just purchased a Valentini pufferfish and
after about a week it seemed to have ich <You didn't quarantine
the puffer?> so I put the required amount of Kordon's rid-ich in
tank and after second day of dose the lionfish started breathing
heavily. <Likely stress from the rid-ich...are you keeping good flow
and aeration in the tank?> I then stopped administering the rid-ich
and put the carbon back in filter and 3 days later the problems have
not gone away. <Crypto is too tough to kill in 3 days, sadly
enough> My tank is 55 gal. fish only with a small green wrasse,
tomato clown, lion fish and Valentini puffer. <Your aquarium is way
overcrowded. Just the Volitans will attain 12"+. Larger quarters
are needed!> All water tests have come back well ,salinity is
1.023,78 degree water with a Magnum 350 filter with two BioWheels.
<What about pH? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate? Also, clean the
mechanical pre-filter in your magnum every 3 days or so, with the
current bioload> About 3 months ago I had different lionfish and put
the rid-ich in the tank with the same results and the lionfish died
about 2 weeks later. <Then it obviously wasn't a good idea to do
it again - try Seachem's Cupramine or Paraguard> Any idea what I
am doing wrong <mostly listed above> if anything other than not
having a hospital tank. <Quarantining is essential! Good luck, and
read our FAQs regarding Cryptosporidium. M. Maddox>

Parasitic Isopod? When I got up and checked my fish
today, I couldn't find one of my Clowns. After searching, I
found him on the top floating and thought he was dead. After he
twitched a little, I saw a worm about 1/2" long attached to
his side ( It looked almost like one of those bugs in the yard
that roll up into a ball when you touch them or like a baby
Armadillo as my daughter calls them). I got the digital camera
and turned on the light to get a photo. I got two semi clear ones
but the thing jumped off and disappeared. The clown has a
laceration on his side but seems to be doing OK right now. What
should I do? I have attached one of the photos. Tank is a
110 gal FOWLR 60lbs live rock. Approximately 1 month since setup.
<Well, this is a really wild photo of what appears to be a
parasitic isopod, a potentially nasty parasite. I'd keep an
eye on the clown, and possibly do a dip in Methylene blue in a
separate container of tank water, just to avoid a possible
infection. Meanwhile, you may have to consider the tank
"hot", if this nasty parasite is still alive in there.
I'd read up on these creatures on the WWM site, and consider
an appropriate course of action. Good luck! Regards, Scott
F.>

Is It Ich? (4/11/04) Hello, <Hi! Steve Allen
tonight> I have a marine aquarium that is about 6 weeks old. I
have a single Chromis, 6 red legged hermit crabs, 4 turbo snails and
have as of today - introduced 2 Blue Cheek Gobies. <Did you
quarantine them?> Today, I have noticed the Gobies are rubbing
themselves on the coral sand occasionally. They do not seem stressed at
the moment but I fear it may be whitespot as I can see a few tiny tiny
specs on their fins. <This is alarming.> What is the best method
of treating this? <Start here and read all related FAQs: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ichartmar.htm
Everything you need to know is there.> Do I need to treat it or is
it something that goes way? <It does not go away as long as there
are untreated fish in the system--merely stays low-level.> Any info
appreciated. <Hope this helps.>

White patches on a blue tang - sounds parasitic 4/10/04
Hi, guys. Great site. I could use some help. Please take a look at the
attached pic. She's my favorite fish. <the pic did not
come through my friend (only as hypertext). It looks like you or your
mail server tried to embed the image rather than attach it. A glitch
regardless> This may or may not be related: I recently added a
Coral Beauty to the tank. On the 2nd day I noticed some Ich on her fins
so I did two treatments with Greenex two days apart. (I has several
inverts.) That cleared up the Ich on the CB but now this on the
tang. <several serious concerns here... the Greenex on the CB
was very high risk (dwarf angel sensitivities to organic dyes and
metals). The addition of any new fish, coral, plant, algae, etc
(anything wet) without quarantine was the scariest of all. It is the
reason your blue tang is afflicted and it is a habit that will infect
or wipe out your tank one or more times in the future if you continue
to add unquarantined fish my friend. I cannot emphasize the importance
of QTing all new animals enough. Please read more on our website
(articles and FAQs) on the how's and whys of this. Furthermore, you
know need a QT/isolation tank to pull fishes back to because you cannot
medicate fishes effectively (not to mention the damage/killing of your
biological filters) in tanks with substrates (sand/gravel buffer and
absorb meds while allowing pathogens to fester)> Any help?
Mark Robokoff <get ye' a bare bottomed QT tank ASAP and
follow the prescribed treatments for parasitic infections (Formalin
and/or FW dips) outlined in the disease data archived on our free
content website wetwebmedia.com. Best of luck! Anthony>

Do White "Hairs" Indicate a Parasite? 4/9/04
BACKGROUND - Friend broke down tank and gave me a 4" blue
tang - The tang has pale pits all over its head suggesting lateral line
disease, though the line looks fine <natural sunlight and improved
feeding will improve this> - Tail is frayed and oddly bumpy
near its base - These symptoms have remained constant for 6
months <hmmm... does not sound likely pathogenic for lasting
this long without getting better/worse> - Behavior completely
normal for a blue tang (healthy swimming, appetite, etc) - I have
provided no treatment - Goby and Banggai Cardinal tankmates
exhibit no signs of illness NEW SYMPTOM - I just noticed a
series of white "hairs" sticking out from his back, directly
below the dorsal fin. <odd> - These bristles are
parallel to each, angled from front to back (like hair blowing in the
wind), the thickness of thread, and number about 10.
QUESTIONS 1. What's wrong with this fish? <not sure
by the text description... a clear photo would help. Else do consult a
good manual like Untergasser's Handbook of Fish diseases
(TFH)> 2. What should I do to help him? <ID the
symptom first before any move or treatment. Get your Quarantine tank
ready if needed if its not still running> Thanks in advance
for any relevant info/advice. - David <I see that you
are form Boston... do check out the excellent local club: The Boston
Reefers. They have their own website (slips me now... do a keyword
search) and they have a forum on reefcentral.com They are also hosting
the national conference this year in September.. an event not to be
missed! Anthony>

Mauritius Aquarium quarantine issues - 3/31/04 Hi Mr.
Fenner....... We are experiencing a number of problems with the
public aquarium project here in Mauritius. As a result of inadequate
quarantine procedures fish in most of the aquariums have developed
either Cryptocaryon or Amyloodinium ( or both) and we have been forced
to delay opening. All fish have been removed from the aquariums and we
intend to let the tanks go fallow for a minimum period of 3-4 weeks.
<Just flush with fresh water for a few days> Will this period be
enough? <Again fresh water for a few days> If we were to drop the
S.G. to 1.018 <Not low enough. Drop salinity to 15ppt not sure what
specific gravity would be> would this help and can we shorten the
fallow period? Would a freshwater flush-out of the system help? <Yes
as per above> Presumably this will destroy beneficial bacteria.
<It will kill them but also kill the crypt> In addition to
smaller species, we hope to stock some large species (i.e. Trigger
fish, parrotfish, surgeons etc. measuring 8-14 inches in length)
....what procedures do other public aquariums operate to quarantine
fish of this size? <Same as with small fishes fresh water dip (temp,
pH matched water, no ammonia) for three minutes, then immediately
remove the fish and place in quarantine tank and the two options for
treatment Formalin and copper (one or the other) For Formalin: 5
treatments one every third day 1ml. per gallon for one hour and flush
system and refill. For copper: .2ppm for 28 days flush and retreat as
needed to maintain water quality. For the long term display tanks drop
your salinity to 15ppt not sure what the specific gravity is but easily
found.> and Should we incorporate UV in our closed system? <It
will help> If so what dimension wattage etc..... For your
information the aquariums are set out in four separate shelters( each
shelter with its own biological filtration system) Each shelter
contains approx. 12 tanks containing 1500 gallons in total. The pump
used for each filter is rated at 32 cubic metres per hour. <You will
need to go to the manufacturer of UV unit you are looking at and get
the ratings for flow and volume before purchasing or you can base your
UV unit on the volume of the system and flow rate of the
pumps> We should be grateful for any advice as to procedures
used by other public aquariums and persons we may contact who
specialize in public aquaria systems. <No worries ~Paul>
Thank you once again for your awesome site. <No problem>
Michael

Parasitic Disease Counter-Attack! Hi Scott.
<Hello again!> Thanks for your help with my problem
<My pleasure!> since my last email I have lost the yellow
tang and fox face, :( the first fish I ever bought. <Sorry to
hear that!> Whatever it is has also taken 2 fire shrimp and a
cleaner shrimp. <Hmm...may be a coincidental demise of
these inverts. Ich is not really a n invertebrate disease> The
Cuprazin I have mentioned is a copper- based treatment available here
in UK, I have now cleaned out the quarantine tank and my reef occupants
are in there (fish only). Copper not good for the inverts!?!
<Nope- not good for them at all!> The reef is running fine
on its own with just the inverts and live rock, So I will run this on
its own. <Nothing wrong with that!> The 5 ft tank is
running ok now after the 100% clean out, so hopefully this will
help with the reef? <Well, if you are dealing with a parasitic
problem, running the tank without potential host fishes is your best
bet here> I will keep you posted as to any further
developments, many thanks, again Scott J Millar <My
pleasure! Hope that success in combating this nasty disease comes soon!
Good luck! Regards, Scott F.>

Fighting The Good Fight Against Parasites Greetings! <Hi
There! Scott F. with you today!> I believe I have an infestation of
some sort in my tank which I can't determine what. Most of my fish
are breathing hard and some of them are scratching a lot though not a
single spot is visible. <Could be a parasitic disease, possibly
Amyloodinium. This disease does cause rapid breathing, general
sluggishness, and more of a "powdery" appearance, as opposed
to dots like Ich. It's a lot more lethal, too...Fast response is
important> Nevertheless, I'm planning on moving all of my fish
to separate hospital tanks and to treat them with copper (if in case
I'm dealing with ich). Since this would be my first time to use
copper, I have a couple of questions: would it be safe to treat some of
my fish which might be sensitive to copper, namely a juvenile Emperor
Angel, B&W Heniochus, Ocellaris Clowns and a 1.5" Blue Tang?
<I'm partial to copper, but you are correct in assuming that
some fishes can be sensitive to it. I'd probably avoid treating the
tang with copper, and exercise caution with the Emperor. You could use
a formalin based product with these fish> The copper product that
I'll be using is sera Oodinopur, which suggests to be used at .30
ppm, which seems too high, can I use it at half dosage? <I would
follow manufacturer's instructions to the letter with any
medication, especially copper. Don't "free lance"
here...> Would the copper kill all the beneficial bacteria in the
filter sponge? <Usually not too problematic. Frequent water changes
and testing (to make sure that the copper stays at a proper therapeutic
dose) are mandatory, however.><<RMF disagrees. Therapeutic
doses of copper often depress nitrification.>> I'm a bit
apprehensive about continuing with this plan, but I'm out of
options right now, unless you have any suggestions. By the way, all
parameters have tested fine, and subsequent water changes have shown
very little improvement on the fish, which led me to believe this is a
parasitic infestation. <My thinking too> I would truly appreciate
your response. Sincerely, Mitch <Well, Mitch, I'd use the
"two front" approach that I frequently advocate on WWM: Treat
the fish with an effective anti-parasitic treatment in a
"hospital" tank, and leave the display tank
"fallow", without fishes, for at least a month or so. This
technique can usually do the trick! Good luck! Regards, Scott
F.>

Another Ich Battle! It's official, I am truly a huge fan
of your site which has taught this biology teacher so much about marine
life! I must thank you again upon your assistance
with helping my clown successfully recover from
Brooklynella after giving him his 15 min. freshwater bath
(eternity for the poor guy) and four months later, he only
has a small battle scar. <Cool! Glad to hear that!>
Now I am concerned with my Coral Beauty (had him for about a month and
did QT him). He appears to have Cryptocaryon, but I am wondering if
there are other possibilities out there. Yesterday, he looked like a
pinch of salt was thrown on him - and has my 2 clown and
yellow tang looked healthy, I just threw the
"ichy" one into a fresh water bath for 3 minutes - the most
he could handle. All 4 fish act
healthy. Today I began to slightly lower the
salinity of the thank to about 1.020 (it's a live rock system
with snails). And raise the temp to about
80. Before I get into chemicals or other drastic
measures, I want to be sure of a diagnosis. <Well, if you are
dealing with a more virulent illness, Amyloodinium (Marine Velvet),
then you're probably seeing other signs, such as rapid breathing,
excessive body slime/mucus, and lack of appetite. This disease can kill
very rapidly if left unchecked. Sounds to me like it may indeed be ich,
which can be treated in a relatively straightforward manner, as you are
aware> Coincidentally, I also noticed extremely small white worms -
looks like a smaller version of the pinworm parasite - on the glass of
the tank. They are so small I wouldn't be able to take a picture
for you so I thought maybe it was a larval form of a
parasite. They do not look like they are ciliated, just thin
and much, much smaller than an eyelash. Related? <I doubt it.
Cryptocaryon is a ciliated protozoan. The Cryptocaryon tomonts are
around 200-400 microns in diameter, and are round in shape when they
are encapsulated in their protective cyst. It sounds like what
you're seeing attached to the glass is unrelated, some type of worm
or other benthic life form that would be tough to identify without a
clear picture> Or is this Ich - should I do the copper treatment and
let the tank go fallow? <It really sounds to me like you're
dealing with ich. As you may know by reading my responses and writings
on WWM, I am a strong advocate of the "fallow tank"
technique. That would be my choice if the diagnosis was confirmed as
ich> Oh, one more question, are my snails alternate hosts? <Not
to my knowledge> BTW - my water condition is excellent.
Thanks for your time, Nadine <I think that you're on the right
track here. Ich is the most likely candidate...Attack it hard, and
you'll be successful. Good luck! Regards, Scott F>

Could It Be Ich? Hello, <Hi there! Scott F. with you
today> For the past few days, my Purple Tang has been hiding in the
rocks. He is breathing hard, and just today stopped
eating. He scares easily, and if I get close to the tank he
starts darting about the rocks. I'm really worried.
What do you think this is. Scott. <Well, Scott, the rapid breathing,
lack of appetite, and "spookiness" can be a couple of things.
My first suggestion is to check on your water parameters. If you detect
ammonia or nitrite, then you should take immediate action to correct
these problems. On the other hand, if water quality is good, and other
symptoms begin to manifest themselves, such as excess mucus, spots,
etc., then you may be dealing with Cryptocaryon or Amyloodinium, both
rather nasty parasitic diseases. The preferred course of action would
be to remove the infected fish to a separate tank for treatment with
formalin-based medication. Follow manufacturer's instructions to
the letter, and monitor the fish carefully. You can beat these nasty
illnesses if you intervene quickly enough. Read more under the
Parasitic Disease FAQs on the WWM site. Good luck! Regards, Scott
F.>

Ich Again! Hi Scott <Hi there!> How r u? <Doin'
fine!> I have very suddenly lost two fish in a week, first my
butterfly and now my pink headed wrasse. <Sorry to hear that> The
wrasse was eating well, but I noticed he has some fine white spots all
over his body, and now my Coral Beauty also has these spots. <Sounds
like ich or Amyloodinium to me. Do you quarantine all of your new
arrivals?> I am regular with my weekly water changes so I don't
seem to see the problem, however I am gonna be taking my water in to my
LFS for some testing. <I don't think it sounds like a water
quality problem. This sounds like a parasitic disease, and requires
treatment (in a separate aquarium) to eradicate. Check under the
Parasitic Disease FAQs on the WWM site for much more on diagnosis and
treatment than I can go into here> I also have these white dots on
the front glass of my tank, I have been told that it might be snail
eggs not sure they are now turning purple and have been there for
over a week. <Very possibly snail eggs, or even coralline
algae!> Why the white spot, what could be the problem, I was doing
fine up till now. Thanks Ziad <Well, Ziad- lack of quarantine,
environmental stresses, and livestock selection issues are probable
causes here. Please do some reading on the WWM site- we have all of the
answers that you need. Good luck! Regards, Scott F> Regards Ziad
Limbada

- Mystery Spots - Hello crew, Thanks for your earlier
responses. I have a 55g salt water aquarium with live rock and lace
rock. The livestock is as follows - yellowtail blue damsel, cinnamon
clown, yellow goby, arc eye hawk, chalk bass, scooter blenny and coral
beauty + about 8 red leg and blue leg snails. I have added the last 3
fish about 2 weeks back (I have been told now to add 1 at a time). For
the last 3 days I have noticed something with the coral beauty and Arc
Eye Hawk and am unable to identify. I see real tiny white spots on
them. The weird thing is that I see the spots only in the
evening/night. In the mornings and during the day I don't see a
single spot on them. Is it Ich? <Could be, could also be sand if you
have a sand bottom - fish do tend to rest by lying on the bottom of the
tank... if the spots are going away during the day, could be ich but
fish at this moment are in excellent health, and shrug this off... have
observed this before has become more of a problem in time.> I am
under the impression that the spots don't appear and disappear at
this frequency for Ich. <Not normally.> Both these fish and all
the others too are eating food actively and show no signs of
sluggishness. <That's good.> I did not want to treat with
copper without actually confirming that it is indeed Ich. <I would
not treat the main tank with anything at this moment.> I have a 10g
quarantine tank. Please suggest the best course of action. <I would
catch both of the suspect fish and all of them if you have the energy,
and give these fish a pH/temperature-adjusted freshwater dip for five
minutes, more if the fish is taking it well. This should act as a first
action, perhaps to be done again if the spots return in numbers in the
next couple of weeks. Consider getting another quarantine tank for
future use - you should have the capacity to remove all your fish from
your main tank and be able to keep them somewhere outside of the main
system.> I have added about 10lb of live rock about 4 days back.
does this have anything to do with it... <It could if the rock was
not well cured.> could these spots actually be tiny water bubbles in
the tank that are adhering to the fish as it swims during the day and
disappear @ night when it is underneath the rocks. <Doubt it would
be air bubbles - more likely that this is sand.> Is it loose dirt
from the new live rock that I added? <Also possible.> I am new to
the hobby and have been stumbling as I am learning. <No worries -
keep a sharp eye out.> Thanks, Raj. <Cheers, J -- >

- Mystery Spots, Follow-up - Hello again, OK. the mystery
spots are not a mystery anymore. I am fairly convinced it is Ich. the
spots came back and stayed and increased a little bit on the coral
beauty. <Trouble...> I see 1-2 spots on the hawk and it
hasn't changed a lot (the hawk acts a little agitated the past few
days). I gave the coral beauty a Methylene blue freshwater dip for 10
min.s day before yesterday and looked like the spots were completely
gone... but they came back yesterday and are again gone today.
meanwhile I am concerned now with a white cloudy formation at the base
of left fin its been there for the last 3 days. the fish is still
eating well and picking stuff off the rocks. is this a fungal
infection? <More likely bacterial.> should I move the coral
beauty to a QT and treat with copper immediately or should I treat with
Maracyn? <I'd move it to quarantine and start with a low dose of
copper.> please let me know. for lack of a bigger QT can I buy a 30
gallon Rubbermaid container and use it as a quarantine tank.
<Certainly.> also what kind of filtration do I need for the QT.
<I'd just use a cheap air-lift sponge filter... prepare for
regular, large water changes.> If I add a biological filter...
won't the medication kill the biological media? <It will at
least stall it out... hence the need for daily to every other day large
[25-50%] water changes.> please I need advice desperately. In the
meanwhile I'll be doing a 15% water change. Thanks a lot, Raj.
<Cheers, J -- > What are those little bugs? (2/24/04) Hi,
<Howdy. Steve Allen here> I hope you have the answer.
<I'll try.> We have a 55 gal. saltwater that has
been set up for about 5 months. All our fish are well, level
readings are normal. Problem is what appears to be lice like
parasites on the walls of the tank. <Probably not parasites.> Are
they a danger to our fish and how should we treat them. <Most likely
no danger at all. If they swim/crawl around, they are almost certainly
harmless (actually beneficial) mini-crustaceans known as copepods.
"Fish lice" are isopods that hang directly on fish. If they
appear to be attached to the wall, they may be some sort of harmless
marine worm.> We also noticed larger white parasites that
appear to be snail like with a fan tail, also on the walls of the tank.
<Do they move? May actually be a mini featherduster worm.> Any
advice would be appreciated. <None of these are likely harmful.
Enjoy the diversity of life in your tank. Read here to be more certain:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/invertidfaq4.htmhttp://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/pestscopepods/a/aa061200.htmhttp://www.wetwebmedia.com/copepodfaqs.htmhttp://www.rshimek.com/Invertebrate%20Key%20to%20Major%20Taxa.htm
> Thank you. <Hope this helps.>

Parasitic Problems... Dear WetWebMedia, <Hi there! Scott
F. here today> Hi, my name is Eugene and I am new to the aquarium
hobby. <Welcome!> I have a problem with my clownfish and pygmy
angels. Every time a place a clownfish or angel in my tank they
accumulate white spots and in a few days die. What's odd about this
is that I have a Firefish, a watchman goby, 2 cleaner shrimp, 2
peppermint shrimp and hermit crabs that have been in my tank for two
months and are doing fine but every time a attempt to add a clownfish
or pygmy angel they die within a week. I have attempted using anti-itch
medication and even used cleaner shrimp. Is there a way to solve this
problem? Thanks, Eugene <Well, Eugene. It sounds like you are
describing a rather virulent parasitic infection, such as "Marine
Ich" (Cryptocaryon), or more likely, "Marine Velvet"
(Amyloodinium). The latter is the more deadly of the two. The best
treatment for either disease is, of course, prevention. Initial
quarantine of all new arrivals for a minimum of three weeks can help
isolate the disease and give you the opportunity to defeat it before it
hits the display tank. Once it is in your system, my preferred
treatment method is to remove all affected fishes to a separate tank
for observation and or treatment with a commercial copper sulphate or
formalin-based product. Be sure to leave the display tank
"fallow", without fishes, for at least a month, which will
cause a "crash" in the population of the causative protozoa
populations in the absence of hosts. You can check out the Parasitic
Disease section and FAQs on the WWM site for lots of good information
on diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. Good luck! Regards, Scott F>